Phoenix nursing graduate still motivated despite health care burnout from pandemic

PHOENIX — Even with so many health care workers in Arizona hospitals stretched thin right now, a Phoenix man is looking forward to becoming a nurse.

Tyler York just graduated with a nursing degree from Creighton University in Phoenix along with nearly 50 others who completed the accelerated nursing program. Hearing how overwhelmed hospital workers are doesn’t discourage him at all.

“It’s something that’s not going to stop me,” York told KTAR News 92.3 FM. “I think it only motivates me to want to work harder and push harder.”

York enters the profession as hospital beds statewide fill up with COVID-19 patients and those seeking care for other conditions. On Sunday, Arizona inpatient beds were at 94% capacity.

He plans to go into behavioral health. It’s a passion he developed while caring for patients, including some with COVID-19, during his more than 1,000 bedside hours of training at Valleywise Health.

“I was able to care for people, and I got to experience them recovering and leaving the facility and going on to being back to their lives and being happy again,” York said. “It was super fulfilling.”

York is among the nearly 300 nursing students who’ve graduated over the past four years from Creighton University’s accelerated nursing program. One of the goals of the program is to help address the shortage of health care professionals in Arizona.

“Creighton is committed to confronting this shortfall, not just by educating more health care professionals in the state, but keeping them there,” the university said in a statement.

Nearly half of the recent graduating class indicated they will stay and work in Arizona.

York said he encourages anyone with a passion for service and caring to pursue a career in nursing.

“Once you get into the process and you get through it and you become a professional nurse, you get to experience things that will truly fulfill you,” he said.

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